Two novels from Charmaine Wilkerson explore cultural inheritance in Black families

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 14 February 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

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Summary

Caribbean American journalist Charmaine Wilkerson began her professional life in TV news. She recalls meeting people on the worst day of their life, when their personal pain was bared to the public eye. Her debut novel, Black Cake, and her new book, Good Dirt, both begin with grief, tracing the loss of loved ones to family revelations that come after. Today's episode revisits a 2022 conversation with Wilkerson and NPR's Kelsey Snell about the role of identity and cultural inheritance in Black Cake. Wilkerson then speaks with NPR's Juana Summers about how those themes develop in Good Dirt.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Ampero's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Charmaine Wilkerson is a novelist who
0:07.1	likes to anchor her stories in things. She uses the history of objects as a way of communicating
0:13.5	something about the history of her characters. She's got a new book out now called Good Dirt,
0:18.3	and in it, she uses a jar made by enslaved people to tell the
0:23.0	story of an affluent black family. But first, we're going to do some tracing back of our own and hear
0:27.8	about Wilkerson's debut novel, Black Cake. Back when it came out in 2022, she spoke with NPR's Kelsey
0:33.6	Snell about the history of Black Cake and how it reflects her character's constant changing
0:39.0	sense of identity. That's up ahead. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from
0:45.5	daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show,
0:51.9	Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of omission,
1:12.8	but she did not want to take her secrets to the grave.
1:15.9	Instead, she left behind a recording for her son Byron, a famous oceanographer, and her estranged and struggling daughter, Benny.
1:22.6	You children need to know about your family, about where we come from, about how I really met your father. You too need to know about your family, about where we come from, about how I really met your father.
1:29.1	You too need to know about your sister. Byron and Benny look at each other, mouths open.
1:35.8	B&B, I know this is a shock. Just bear with me for a moment and let me explain.
1:41.0	In Charmaine Wilkerson's swirlarling new novel Blackcake, that explanation
1:45.9	upends everything. Byron and Benny thought they knew about their mother, their family, and themselves.
1:52.1	Charmaine Wilkerson joins us now. Thank you and welcome. Thank you, Kelsey. It's wonderful to be here.
1:57.6	I want to get this out of the way first. For those who don't know, what is black cake?
2:02.9	Black cake is a traditional Caribbean fruit cake. And it's essentially an evolved version of the good
2:10.7	old-fashioned English plum pudding. So it's different. It has fruit that's been soaked in rum,
2:20.1	dark brown cane sugar is used. So it's different. It has fruit that's been soaked in rum, dark brown cane sugar is used. So it speaks to the agriculture and tradition of the Caribbean island while it's really been, you know, taken from the English tradition.
	...

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